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Editorial

These are days of frayed tempers, perceived grievances, real threats and real fears that can cloud and blow away reason.  This is the hour of the rumor-monger.  This is the hour of the extremist.  This is the hour of the passionate, the hour or the irrational.
The word on the street is ‘Aluthgama’.  Indeed it is the word on every street where matters of yesterday, today and tomorrow, matters of the nation and its destiny, matters of unrest and fear and other related matters are discussed.  Aluthgama moved from the Kalutara district to Colombo and Badulla.  ‘This is 83-July all over again,’ some said.  Not true, but we could get there.

There were arguments over who threw the first stone, as though it justified throw-return and more.  After all it is hard to pin it down to first stone cast when there were only a handful of STF men to ‘protect the (BBS) procession’ in Dharga Town.  An STF source said, ‘That’s why the Muslims keep saying that the STF sided with the mob.  We didn’t.  We were acting on our orders which were specific and were about protecting the procession.’  It was not, let us repeat, not a peaceful procession.  There were anti-Muslim slogans, whipping of hysteria, and undisguised inciting of violence against Muslims in a Muslim majority area by people who had petrol cans and carried weapons. Literally minutes after that ‘first stone’ Muslims and Muslim-owned premises were attacked and torched in Adhikarigoda, Aluthgama and the interior of Dharga Town.

Most of all, it is hard to pin it down on first stone when Buddhist monks torched a shopping complex in Aluthgama more than a month ago over an alleged molestation of a Buddhist child by a Muslim, the relative of the shop owner, when in fact CCTV evidence disproved the allegation.Blaming first-stone-thrower is therefore a joke.
If Azath Salley was arrested for ‘hate speech’, why is Rev Galagodaaththe Gnanasaara still free?  Why did the Police not prevent the BBS rally despite many pleas to do so from many quarters (a planned ‘BBS’ rally in Mawanella was after all stopped)?  Why was the STF not ordered to maintain peace but instructed only to ‘protect the procession’?  Why didn’t the police stop armed mobs scurrying around with violent intent (not just in Aluthgama on Sunday but elsewhere too thereafter)?

Most importantly, why did the Inspector General of Police N.K. Ilangakoon state that a Buddhist monk had been assaulted when he had no evidence to support the claim?  The Judicial Medical Officer’s report which would have either proven or refuted the said monk’s claim (as of Friday) has not been issued.  Highly placed sources at the Attorney General’s Office could not confirm that the monk had indeed been assaulted. 
If there was justification of last Sunday’s violence and if justification spurred further violence the blame falls squarely on the IGP for making the following (irresponsible) statement: ‘Three Muslims in a trishaw assaulted the driver and the Buddhist monk. The Buddhist monk was in hospital receiving treatment for two days and then discharged.  He was to be taken to the temple in a procession when the incident occurred.’

The IGP offered speculation as fact. That’s incompetent and irresponsible. Yesterday the Muslim-owned ‘No Limit’ outlet in Panadura was torched.  While it is not clear how it all happened, it is clear that the sequence of events prompt people to connect dots and reach conclusion, wrong though they may be.  Tinkering with the truth and lying outright causes friction, throw out sparks and cause infernos that are hard to put out.
It is wrong to blame it all on one person, but it is equally wrong not to point out those who provided fuel and matchstick, tossed in extra firewood and refused to douse it even though they had all the water necessary to do the job.  We have to take issue with the IGP.  He must resign forthwith.

Last modified on Sunday, 22 June 2014 00:02http://www.nation.lk/edition/latest-top-stories/item/30540-the-igp-must-resign.html

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In an exemplary act of solidarity religious leaders, both Muslim and Buddhist, met at the Muhiyibdeen Jumma Mosque at Yonakpura, Dickwella, recently. Chief Incumbent Priests of eight Buddhist temples in Dickwella led by Dickwella Shasanarakshaka Bala Mandalaya President Ven Godellewela Rathananda Thera spent close to two hours at the Mosque last Monday night. The decision to visit the mosque was made on the instructions of Minister of Youth Affairs and Skills Development Dullas Alahapperuma.

The delegation of monks accompanied by members of Dickwella Pradeshiya Sabha led by Chairman Krishali Muthukumarana, Dickwella Police OIC, Lasantha Dadallage and other Government officials were warmly welcomed by the Moulavi of Muhiyideen Jumma Mosque Mohamed Akbar Mohamed Shamil.
Speaking to The Nation, Dickwella Pradeshiya Sabha led by Chairman Krishali Muthukumarana informed that such acts of solidarity were nothing new to Dickwella. “Due to a conflict that occurred in Dickwella a few years ago, we decided to form a conflict reporting committee,” said Krishali Muthukumarana. Over the years , the Dickwella Conflict Reporting Committee met regularly in order to solidify religious and racial harmony.

“On the instructions of Minister Dullas Alahapperuma, the Committee met again last Monday at an emergency meeting held at the Dickwella Pradeshiya Sabha,” informed Krishali Muthukumarana. Both Muslim and Buddhist religious leaders, Dickwella Police OIC, Lasantha Dadallage, members of Dickwella Pradeshiya Sabha and representatives of Dickwella youth took part in the discussions.

“As a result of these discussions the Moulavi of Muhiyideen Jumma Mosque at Yonakpura, Dickwella,  Mohamed Akbar Mohamed Shamil extended an invitation to Chief Incumbent Priests of eight Buddhist temples in Dickwella to visit the Mosque.”
Dickwella Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman, Krishali Muthukumarana explained that conflicts take place due to lack of understanding. “If a Buddhist bumps into a Buddhist there is no problem. But if a Muslim bumps into a Buddhist, it’s a big issue. Muslims are not familiar with Buddhist culture and Buddhists are not familiar with Muslim culture. This sort of environment is conducive to conflict. At village level cricket there are separate teams for Muslims and Sinhalese. But in Dickwella it’s different. This sort of solidarity has to seep into village level community based activities as well,” reiterated Krishali Muthukumarana.

“The president of the Muhiyibdeen Jumma Mosque, who was abroad at the time of the Aluthgama incident saw this as a great opportunity to further strengthen our religious and racial ties,” said Muhiyibdeen Jumma Mosque, Dayaka Sabha Secretary,  Mohammed Affan. “We welcomed the Nayaka Theras in the traditional Muslim way, with both hands. We don’t have chairs in the mosque. But we brought a few chairs in for the event.”
According to Affan Dickwella’s religious solidarity dates back to 1452, when the daughter of Parakrama Bahu VI, Bisomenike married Yemenite, Ashek Kuthud Muhammad. They were gifted Dickwella, then Digali Gambaraya, Kuwaiti for ‘prosperous earth’, by the King.

“Since then the relatives of princess Bisomenike and those of Ashek have been living in harmony,” said Affan. In 1575, the Mosque built by Ashek was leveled to the ground by the Portugese, explained Affan. “It was the monks of the Galkanda and Digawalukarama Temple who helped the Muslims who still help and work together with us to this day.”
“All these conflicts, including the conflict that took place in Dickwella in 2009, were the result of external influences,” pointed out Affan. “We must work together to reject such influences, leaving no room for rumors. During the discussions that followed the Aluthgama incident we exchanged phone numbers, so the truth to any rumor can be determined right away.”

“When Aluthgama launched harthal, we didn’t. Therefore there was no harthal against the harthal,” said Dickwella Shasanarakshaka Bala Mandalaya President Ven Godellewela Rathananda Thera. “It’s because the situation was remedied before it blew out of proportion.” Godellewela Rathananda Thera explained that the conflict that took place in Dickwella few years ago acted as a precedent.
Moreover, he commended the residents of Muslim Street, in which Budu Raja Maha Vihara is located, for organizing the Dansala that coincided with the temple’s Vesak procession. “Dickwella was spared of a full-fledged conflict due to the unity of the mosques and temples in the area. We are positive that nothing bad will happen in Dickwella as long as this solidarity is maintained.”

http://www.nation.lk/edition/news-features/item/30519-dickwella-religious-representatives-exchange-numbers-no-room-for-external-influences.html

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By  Sandun Jayawardana and Arthur Wamanan Sunday, 22 June 2014

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May 8

A mob which includes three Buddhist monks set fire to a shopping complex situated in the Aluthgama town over an incident where a Buddhist child is alleged to have been molested inside a Muslim-owned shop on April 27. The shop is burnt despite CCTV footage showing no such incident took place.

June 12 (Poson Poya Day)

Chief Incumbent of the Kurunduwatta Sri Vijayaramaya Temple in Aluthgama, Ven. Ayagama Samitha Thera and his driver are allegedly assaulted by three Muslim youths after an altercation in Dharga Town. Thera makes a complaint to Aluthgama police and is admitted to hospital. All three youths are arrested on the same day and remanded till June 25.

June 15

The Aluthgama Shashanarakshaka Bala Mandalaya holds a rally in Aluthgama town to welcome Ven. Samitha Thera after he is discharged from hospital.  6.45pm – Police impose curfew on the Aluthgama police division after violence erupts. Curfew for the Beruwala police division is imposed soon afterwards. Two Muslim men are hacked to death during the violence. Over 40, both Sinhalese and Muslims, are injured. Seven police officers among them.

June 16

By 7.00pm, situation in Aluthgama and Beruwala brought largely under control after additional police, STF and Army units are brought in. Attacks occur further inland in Welipenna. One Tamil security guard working at a Muslim-owned farm is killed. Sinhalese and Muslim homes and businesses in the area attacked. 
President Mahinda Rajapaksa, attending the G77 summit in Bolivia, takes to Twitter to urge all parties concerned to act with restraint.

June 17

Police curfew temporarily lifted in Aluthgama and Beruwala for four hours from 8.00am to 12.00pm to allow for essential services.

June 18

Police curfew, which had been in effect since the evening of June 15, finally lifted for both areas from 8.00am. President Rajapaksa visits Beruwala on his return from Bolivia.

June 19

Muslims around the island conduct ‘Hartals’ to protest the attacks on their community. Many Muslim-owned businesses close in Colombo and other towns.Inspector General of Police (IGP) N.K. Illangakoon assures police will take action against BBS provided there is sufficient evidence they orchestrated violence.

June 20

Tense situation leading up to Friday Jummah prayers over fears there will be street protests. Police increase security in Colombo and other areas. No incidents reported.

June 21

Tense situation reported from Panadura after the Nolimit clothing store in the town is completely destroyed due to a fire. Some Muslims allege the fire was caused by a petrol bomb attack. Police state cause will only be revealed following issuance of Government Analyst’s report.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa appoints a high level commitee to enquire into the series of incidents.

http://www.nation.lk/edition/news-online/item/30541-sequence-of-events.html

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ආගමික ජාතිකත්වය මත වෛරය ඇති කරන තාලේ කිසිදු රැස්වීමකට  ඉඩ නොදෙන බව පොලිස් මාධ්‍ය ප්‍රකාශක ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ පොලිස් අධිකාරී අජිත් රෝහණ මහතා පවසයි.

http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/top_story/244320

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බණ්ඩාරගම රයිගම්පුර සිංහල මුස්ලිම් එකමුතු ක්‍රීඩා සමාජය අලුත්ගම හා බේරුවල  ගැටුම්වලින් අවතැන් වු මුස්ලිම් ජනතාවට අද දිවා ආහාරය පිරිනැමීය.

අටුළුගම මීගහමුල්ල මුස්ලිම් පල්ලියේ ප්‍රධාන පුජක මවුලවි ජලීල් මහතාට  ක්‍රිඩා සමාජයේ සභාපති  නිමල් පෙරේරා හා සම සංවිධායක ඒ චන්දන මහත්වරු එම ආහාර බාර දුන්හ.

http://www.lankadeepa.lk/index.php/articles/243952

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Rising attacks against Muslims by Buddhist supremacist groups raise questions about community’s safety. Last updated: 21 Jun 2014 08:36

Ameen Izzadeen Ameen Izzadeen is the deputy editor of the Sunday Times, Sri Lanka and International Editor of the Wijeya Newspaper Group, Sri Lanka. He also writes a weekly column for the Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka. RSS

Although President Rajapaksa pledged action, the affected people are not convinced and want BBS banned [AFP]

Never again 1983! Sri Lankans had so resolved after the horrors of the July 1983 - the darkest and the bloodiest month in the island nation's post-independence history, the month that plunged this country into a 26-year separatist war, the month that brought an international shame on the South Asian country. Even when Buddhism's holiest shrine in Sri Lanka - the Temple of the Tooth, the Buddhist equivalent of Muslim Mecca - was bombed by the separatist terrorists, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1998, the Sinhalese, who account for 74 percent of the country's population, restrained themselves despite widespread anger. Their patience in the face of the provocation was a shining example of what Buddhism had taught. They thwarted the terrorists' plan to trigger a Sinhala-Buddhist backlash against the country's Tamils who make up 12 percent of the population, and thereby winning the world's support in the fight against the LTTE's armed rebellion for a separate state. The Sinhala Buddhist magnanimity was also evident when they celebrated the war victory in May 2009. No Tamil was harmed by the jubilant Sinhala people. Against this backdrop, the anti-Muslim mob violence this week in three coastal towns in the country's southwest appears to be an attempt to tarnish Buddhism's image as a philosophy of non-violence. Ironically, a Buddhist extremist group called Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) - meaning the army of the Buddhist power - led by ethno-fascist monks is in the forefront of the violence. Inside Story - Who is behind Sri Lanka's religious violence? The very name of the group runs counter to the four sublime states the Buddha wanted his followers to manifest: Love or loving-kindness (metta in Pali), compassion (karuna), sympathetic joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha). My Buddhist friends who watched the video clip containing the speech the BBS's de facto chief Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara made hours before the mob attack on Muslims in Aluthgama, Dharga town and Beruwala were livid. They said: How could he call himself a Buddhist monk? They could not understand why the police did not arrest him on a charge of spreading hate speech that drugged thousands of his followers to go on a rampage and attack Muslim houses, businesses and mosques in areas not far from the place where the first Muslim Arab traders landed in the eighth century AD. My Tamil friends were equally upset. They said they could understand the Muslim anger, fear and pain as this week's riots rekindled their memories of July 1983. One of them said she had felt for the first time in her life the pain of fear and being alienated when mobs came hunting for Tamils. Another related his story of how his Colombo house was burnt to ashes and how he and his family ran to a nearby Hindu temple to save their lives and lived there with little or no food among thousands of other Tamils for several days. Role of social media The stories we heard this week about the anti-Muslim riots were no different. The violence, which broke out on June 15 following a confrontation between a Buddhist monk and Muslim youths over an accident, has left a sense of fear among the Muslim community. Unlike the Tamils, many Muslims, who form 10 percent of the population, live among the Sinhalese and are scattered across the island nation. With the mainstream media downplaying the latest incident in an apparent bid to prevent the news from sparking further violence in other areas, the social media played a key role in disseminating news with videos, photographs and texts. Unlike the 1983 anti-Tamil riots, the social media made a big difference this time around giving us the news as it happened and let Sri Lankan leaders know that the world was watching. The hate speech of the BBS monk Gnanasara, who is being described as Sri Lanka's Ashin Wirathu - the monk who calls himself "Burma's bin Laden" - was circulated widely on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. We saw the mob charging and attacking houses and burning shops. We heard the cries of trapped Muslims inside mosques and the screams of two little girls who lost their father in the violence. As to who started the riots and who provoked whom, accounts vary and are vague. As Monday dawned, the three coastal towns were still under siege, with the Muslims accusing the police of enforcing the curfew only in their areas and taking little or no action against the mobs. An eerie calm has prevailed in the capital, Colombo, and its suburbs - home to a large number of middle class Muslims. The news about the attack on a pharmacy in Dehiwala on the outskirts of Colombo was making rounds on social media on Monday. Many Muslim parents did not send their daughters to school, while other Muslim girls were advised to remove their hijabs and long Panjabi trousers and hide them in their school bags at the slightest sign of any trouble. This indicates that Muslims' identity has become a liability in post-civil war Sri Lanka.   As Muslims in the beleaguered towns still languish in agony and live in mosques and schools, there is little or no assurance that there would be no more anti-Muslim violence. Although, President Mahinda Rajapaksa soon after returning from Bolivia on June 18 rushed to the violence-hit areas and pledged action against the troublemakers, the affected people are not convinced. Stripped of their dignity and wealth, the Muslims want action against the perpetrators. They want the BBS banned and its leaders arrested. They ask if the president could get rid of the LTTE, why he is finding itdifficult to deal with the BBS. The frequency of attacks on minorities by members of hardline Buddhist groups - the BBS and its front groups - has been growing each passing day. Police inaction in bringing the perpetrators to justice has emboldened them to carry out more attacks not only on Muslims, but also on Christian places of worship. A member of a group calling itself "the Buddhists Questioning Bodu Bala Sena" told me in an interview last year that the situation was taking a dangerous turn because the BBS was planting seeds of hatred even in tender minds - children who attend Sunday schools conducted by the group's followers or sympathisers. Many critics connect the police inaction with the BBS' alleged links with Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother of President Rajapaksa. But he has denied any such links. As a chilling warning to the Muslims that it was not over yet, a Buddhist monk, Wataraka Vijitha Thera - who has earned the wrath of the BBS for working for amity among Sri Lanka's different ethnic groups - was found lying unconscious on Thursday in a shrub in Panadura, a town 35km from Aluthgama. His hands and feet were tied. He told police that he was abducted and attacked by some monks. The alleged police inaction and the government's failure to crack down on hate speech as well as this week's violence, point to the breakdown of the rule of law, questioning the president's claim that "there are no minorities in this country. All are equal". In the aftermath of the latest violence, the Muslims want to say it loud: "We are Muslims, we are Sri Lankans." The anti-Muslim violence has set back Sri Lanka's march towards that haven of freedom, into which all citizens want their country move. That was what many Sri Lankans dreamt of when the separatist war ended in May 2009. But it will remain a dream if the likes of Galagoda-Atte Gnanasara enjoy freedom to spread hate speech. Ameen Izzadeen is the deputy editor of the Sunday Times, Sri Lanka and International Editor of the Wijeya Newspaper Group, Sri Lanka. He also writes a weekly column for the Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/06/muslim-identity-liability-sri-l-201462075937574567.html

Source: Al Jazeera

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June 20, 2014, 9:14 pm

By Izeth Hussain

It is evident that after the anti-Muslim action in Alutgama and Beruwela on June 15 and the days following, the Sri Lankan Muslim problem has entered a new phase. There is no need for me to recapitulate the well-known details pointing to the government’s complicity in the anti-Muslim action. Indeed it is more than complicity, and what happened should be properly regarded as a governmental anti-Muslim racist pogrom. What happened is not novel because it is the kind of thing that has been going on for the last couple of years or so. What is novel are the sustained and meticulously planned attacks on Muslim business establishments. This fits into the racist paradigm to which I have referred in earlier articles. According to this paradigm the Sinhalese, more particularly the Sinhalese Buddhists, should be at the apex of a hierarchical structure, a programme that required the kicking down of the Tamils. It is now the turn of the Muslims to be kicked down.

Admittedly, what I have written above could be a simplification of the prevailing situation, because I have not taken into account what might be called the existential fears of the Sinhalese people, fears that go well beyond the supporters of the BBS. That is true, but it is not germane to my present purpose, which is to point the finger directly at the government as playing the crucial role in a racist anti-Muslim project. My point is that those existential fears are themselves the product of anti-Muslim racist propaganda. It should have been recognised as the duty of the government to counter that propaganda. Of course it did nothing of the sort because – just like our earlier governments – it has in effect acknowledged as its only duty in the ethnic field as that of establishing and maintaining the supremacy of the Lion Race.

What should the Muslims do to safeguard their legitimate interests, to live in peace and dignity with their Sinhalese compatriots, as the majority of the Sinhalese themselves would wish? First of all we must recognise that their present options are far wider than they would have been in 1983. The government seems to be proceeding in its anti-Muslim project on the assumption that it can degrade the Muslims to second or third class status – the Tamils being already reduced to second class status – by stages, avoiding the provocation of a July ’83 holocaust. The government today gives permission to the BBS to hold a rally in Aluthgama – a decision deplored by no less than the BBS President himself – and the police look on while the racist mob torches Muslim business premises. Tomorrow and the day after the process can be replicated in Colombo and elsewhere until all major Muslim business is taken over by the Lion Race. But the international community has reacted in a way that would have been unimaginable in 1983, and so has the civil society in Sri Lanka – I need not go into details. These reactions seem to signify that the peoples of the world are making themselves heard, that the wretched of the earth are arising. It could be that the racist neo-Fascists in Sri Lanka and elsewhere are not going to have an easy time.

One development in the civil society, still at an inchoate stage, could hold out much hope for the future. There seems to be a growing realisation that society is something like a seamless web in which what happens in one part impacts on the others. It means that what is done to the minorities today could be done to the majority tomorrow. In July ’83 the Sinhalese power elite and its henchmen sank into the reptilian and the bestial. The holocaust against the defenseless Tamils was organised meticulously in a cold-blooded way – hence my term "reptilian" – by and with the knowledge of the top racists of the Jay Gang. Thereafter the racist mobs were given the licence to sink into bestiality. The JVP, which was utterly racist at that time, enjoyed it all thoroughly. But towards the end of that same decade the JVP were ruthlessly butchering their fellow Sinhalese and were ruthlessly butchered in return. In several areas of Sri Lanka the youths were subjected to indiscriminate butchery on a horrifying scale. The paradise isle was drenched in blood and the greater part of it was transformed into a cemetery. An atrophy of the moral sensibility was shown by the Sinhalese power elite towards the Tamil minority in July ’83, and thereafter the Sinhalese majority itself paid a terrible price for that. Today the Muslim minority is being systematically denied the rule of law, and the Sinhalese majority is being denied it sporadically. Tomorrow–as the Bar Association of Sri Lanka seems to understand quite well–the Sinhalese majority will also be denied it systematically. It does seem that society is a seamless web.

What specifically should the Sri Lankan Muslims do to safeguard their legitimate interests? I used to be against our Muslims internationalising their internal ethnic problem but today unlike in 1983, internationalisation is impossible to avoid. The Organisation of Islamic Countries comprising 57 member states – the largest international organization outside the UN – has made its statement on the recent anti-Muslim action, and the UN has spoken through the voice of Navy Pillay. The leader of the SLMC, Rauf Hakeem, has urged the Government to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues to take action on the present situation in Sri Lanka. Every Muslim political Party and every Muslim politician should back Hakeem’s highly commendable move.

Internally, the Muslims should focus on two areas, the ongoing national struggle to make the Government respect the rule of law, and secondly the issues that have been bedeviling Muslim-Sinhalese relations for decades. I believe that it is crucially important to make Muslim action in these two areas part of a national struggle to bring about a better Sri Lanka. The campaign to make the government respect the rule of law is already under way, and the Muslims should support that campaign in every way possible. As for the issues bedeviling Muslim-Sinhalese relations, individual Muslims such as myself can write articles on them – and that certainly is necessary – but their usefulness will be limited as individual Muslims may not be seen as having much of a representative capacity. What really is required is a group consisting mainly of Muslims and Sinhalese to put together papers on those issues in a readable form, aimed mainly at opinion-makers and decision-makers. That could be followed by translations into the vernaculars to reach a wider audience.

The project that I have in mind will take some time to mature. In the meanwhile I propose writing some articles on some of those issues, focusing initially – if I can get sufficient data on them – on those that seem to be seen as posing an existential threat to the Sinhalese. One is the spread of Wahabism, or what might more appropriately be called "political Islam". The second is the supposed demographic threat according to which the Muslims are multiplying so fast that before long Sri Lanka will become a predominantly Muslim country. The third is the alleged economically privileged position of the Muslims. All three issues, I believe, are nonsensical, but I believe also that it will be irresponsible and stupid to dismiss them as unworthy of serious consideration because they are nonsensical. The point is that the nonsensical could have behind it irrational fears, but those irrational fears could be very real, and besides irrational fears could carry a high incendiary potential. The government will not address those irrational fears because they accord nicely with its own anti-Muslim project. It is up to the civil society to address them.   -     This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=105430